A BRIGHT spot piercing the gloom at the troubled US-based computer maker Digital Equipment is the emerging Vietnam market, where it expanded its presence yesterday by appointing its first country manager.
Bound until recently by the United States' trade embargo against Vietnam, Digital is trying to catch up with some non-US competitors.
But, as a US player, the firm has been one of the most active in Vietnam.
The appointment of Hong Kong-based Digital Asia infrastructure industries specialist Norris Hickerson as country manager bolstered the firm's 18-month-old indirect presence.
The company's presence is, initially, modest, with just Mr Hickerson and three full-time staff to be based in Hanoi. But Digital is bullish about its prospects.
Though Mr Hickerson has travelled to Vietnam regularly in the past six months, it was felt the firm needed direct representation to start the long process of relationship building.
''We had thought about distance management, but decided that was not the way we should proceed,'' he said.
